650 hostages freed from Algeria gas field

Algiers: Around 650 hostages detained by an armed group at a gas field in Algeria have been freed, the official APS news agency reported Friday.

The hostages were kept at the gas facility in Illizi province.

Those freed include 570 Algerians and more than half of the 132 detained foreigners, Xinhua cited the report as saying.

A source said the army`s Special Forces are still looking for a peaceful solution to free the rest of the hostages, before having to eradicate the militants who have taken refuge in a refinery at the gas facility.